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Alumnus endows two scholarships to get students started in their college careers

February 9 2007

Sometimes another person noticing your potential is enough to catapult you in a new direction. That is exactly how Indiana State University alumnus Steve Clinton got where he is today.

"When I graduated from South Newton High School in 1968, there wasn't any money for me to go to college. I worked for a couple of years and I was in the Kentland Bank one day when the president, Bob Batton, took me aside and urged me to go to college. He backed this up with a personal loan to help me get started," Clinton recalled.

Just $1500 was enough to open the doors of opportunity for Clinton, who graduated in 1975 with a degree in journalism.

Clinton, who serves as the president of Indiana Secondary Market for Education Loans, Inc., wants to extend the generosity that Batton showed him to others.

"I have always wanted to help other individuals in the way that Mr. Batton helped me many years ago," he said.

Clinton and his wife, Bonnie, have endowed two scholarships for current or former students from South Newton and Knox high schools.

One scholarship is in honor of Clinton's mother, Patricia Polen Clinton, a 1946 graduate of Goodland High School. The other scholarship is in honor of Bonnie Clinton's mother, Virginia Pettinato Hogg, a 1934 Knox High School graduate.

"Both my wife and I are first generation college graduates and we received help to go to college. This is our way of giving something back," he said.

Both scholarships are available to graduating seniors as well as students who graduated during the last two years and meet the scholarship criteria. The $2000 scholarships are geared at getting students started.

South Newton or Knox high school students interested in applying for these scholarships should contact their guidance counselor for more information. Recipients must have documented evidence of financial need and have completed the FASFA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form in order to be eligible for the scholarship.Recipients must meet ISU admissions requirements. Deadline to apply for these scholarships is March 1.